CAMP JOHN HAY, Baguio City -- (UPDATE) Armed Forces chief of staff General Hermogenes Esperon Jr. urged the 220 members of the Philippine Military Academy's 2008 Baghawi Class to "defend democracy" and help defeat the communist insurgency.

The senior cadets will graduate from the country's premiere military institution on Tuesday, and will be commissioned as second lieutenants in the Army, Air Force, and Marines and as ensigns in the Navy.

Esperon said he would give each of the soon-to-be junior officers a "white paper" entitled, "Defending Democracy," which he described as a "treatise on ending military adventurism."

"My only advice now is very simple, just focus on the job that is given to you, each and everyone of us has a role to perform. You are in the chain of command. You are under the structure of the Armed Forces of the Philippines," Esperon told the cadets at a luncheon he hosted.

With a professional military, Esperon said there was "no reason to for us to fail" in meeting the 2010 deadline set by the commander-in-chief, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, to end the nearly four-decade guerilla war being waged by the New People's Army (NPA).

"We have gained for ourselves a unique opportunity and chance to finally defeat the insurgency but if we don't join hands together, this real opportunity might slip from us," he said.

Meanwhile, PMA Superintendent Major General Leopoldo Maligalig urged the cadets to "be political-minded," not "politicized."

"When you become flag-officers, you will be exposed to the intricacies of politics. Be political-minded officers, not politicized," Maligalig said in a speech.

While they should remain apolitical, Maligalig said the future military officers should be "aware of the politics of the nation."

"Hopefully, these men and women will become statesmen in their own right," said Maligalig, an alumnus of the PMA's 1976 class.

The class name "Baghawi" is short for "Bagong Halaw ng Lahi." The graduates will be commissioned as second lieutenants in the Army, Air Force, and Marines, and as ensigns in the Navy.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the commander-in-chief, will be the keynote speaker at the graduation ceremony at Borromeo Field in Fort del Pilar on Tuesday.

The military has a history of mounting coup attempts, led mostly by graduates of the PMA, including now senators Gregorio Honasan and Antonio Trillanes IV.

The AFP top brass has resisted fresh calls to intervene in the current political turmoil, triggered by allegations that Arroyo, her husband, Jose Miguel, and former elections chief Benjamin Abalos pocketed millions of dollars in kickbacks from the botched $329-million national broadband deal.